Advocates push for Delaware River's own identity

Sunday

May 19, 2013 at 2:00 AM

must somehow work with opposition like that — and what many say is a Monticello-centric bias of Sullivan County. He also says that plans to enhance the Upper Delaware, with hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal grant dollars, are misunderstood. Plus, because of fears of eminent domain, the National Park Service is only allowed to buy 124 of the 56,000 acres in the river corridor — from willing sellers.

Say the Catskills and folks know you mean the mountains of New York. Say the Poconos and everyone knows you're talking Pennsylvania. But say the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and you'll most likely get a blank stare – even from those who live in the shadow of the national treasure that runs alongside Sullivan County into Orange County and down past Port Jervis.

“This side of the river thinks of itself as the Catskills, and the other side thinks it's the Poconos,” says an official from the Sullivan County Division of Planning and Environmental Management who's developing a plan to enhance the land along one of the nation's least known, most misunderstood jewels.

“We're kind of stuck in the shadow of the Hudson Valley and the Poconos,” says Travis O'Dell, resource specialist for the Upper Delaware Council, which helps manage the 74-mile-long Upper Delaware through a partnership of local, state and federal governments that often seems as unwieldy as the river's name.

“We do have an identity crisis,” sums up Laurie Ramie, president of the UDC.

Still, as the Memorial Day holiday approaches and thousands of visitors descend on the area, business owners, county officials and even the federal government are embarking on a new push to revitalize and capitalize on the national treasure where eagles soar and trout run wild.

Making the Delaware special

“What needs to be done is market the Upper Delaware like the Finger Lakes, or the Adirondacks,” says Narrowsburg's Rick Lander, who owns Lander's River Trips, one of several Upper Delaware-based canoe and camping outfits, and is a longtime member of the Sullivan County Visitors Association. “We need to develop our own identity.”

But these river advocates must first overcome obstacles as steep as the mountains that rise alongside the river and as entrenched as the dwarf wedge mussels that keep the water so clean, millions drink it.

For instance, even though hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world visit the Upper Delaware every year, there's only one full-fledged public restroom along the 74-mile stretch – although there are several portable toilets.

As for public access to the water?

There aren't many access points along the river in New York and some are so tiny and obscure, you barely notice them.

One of the most spectacular runs of the river, the winding, mountain-lined 9-mile stretch from Long Eddy to Callicoon, is only accessible by a few a cars at a time. In Long Eddy, you literally have to cross the railroad tracks to get on the river – and then make a U- or K-turn to find parking. That's why Sullivan County is using a $125,000 state grant to work with the six river towns to design – or redesign – access for each along the Delaware.

But since only 30 of the Upper Delaware's 56,000 acres are publicly owned by the National Park Service, creating entirely new access may mean the purchase of private land.

To do that, officials of the National Park Service, who dream of creating an area as rich and renowned as the Grand Tetons or Jackson Hole, often run smack up against an anti-government, frontier spirit that would make tea partyers proud. Folks like river revitalization advocate Lander still remember back some 35 years when the Wild and Scenic River was created and the National Park Service came in, clamped down on alcohol use and told farmers they couldn't spread manure on fields. That's when fears of the eminent domain taking of private land churned as fast and furious as white water. That's also when riverside “National Park Service Get Out” signs went up – and never came down.

That's why the supervisor of the northernmost Sullivan County river town of Fremont is skeptical, at best, when the talk turns to buying private land, improving river access and maybe creating bike or walking trails.

And even though more access could mean more visitors and more sales tax dollars for sleepy hamlets like Long Eddy, Conklin is reluctant to give up private land to the government. After all, his town, Fremont, which would welcome visitors from the north to Sullivan County, refused to let its stretch of the road that runs along the Delaware, Route 97, become part of the federally designated Upper Delaware Scenic Byway, fearing it would limit commercial activity like bluestone mining.

“All they (the government) need to do is pave our roads, fix our bridges and stay the heck out,” he says.

Sean McGuinness, superintendent of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River of the National Park Service, knows that he and river revitalization advocates like the Sullivan County Visitors Association, the Upper Delaware Council and the Delaware County-based Friends of the Upper Delaware must somehow work with opposition like that – and what many say is a Monticello-centric bias of Sullivan County. He also says that plans to enhance the Upper Delaware – with hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal grant dollars – are misunderstood. Plus, because of fears of eminent domain, the National Park Service is only allowed to buy 124 of the 56,000 acres in the river corridor – from willing sellers.

“They complain about taking property off the tax rolls, but you make more from sales tax (and spending in local shops),” he says. “We're not here to take over. We're just here to protect the resources.”

McGuinness wants to use federal funds to open an Upper Delaware Visitors Center, improve access to the water, and perhaps establish some National Park Service campsites, while maintaining the hometown feel of the area that boasts everything from a tractor parade and pancake breakfasts to art gallery openings and opera.

“What if the Park Service could own one of the islands (in the Delaware) and open it for camping?” he says.

If all this happens – and “there's no fracking,” which is supported by two New York river towns and banned by three others – McGuinness feels the value of the land will skyrocket, especially with zoning that protects the river corridor.

But to do all of this for the first time in the 35 years since Congress designated the Upper Delaware as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, river revitalization advocates must somehow work with opposition like that — and what many say is a Monticello-centric bias of Sullivan County. He also says that plans to enhance the Upper Delaware, with hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal grant dollars, are misunderstood. Plus, because of fears of eminent domain, the National Park Service is only allowed to buy 124 of the 56,000 acres in the river corridor — from willing sellers.

"They complain about taking property off the tax rolls, but you make more from sales tax (and spending in local shops)," he says. "We're not here to take over. We're just here to protect the resources."

McGuinness wants to use federal money to open an Upper Delaware Visitors Center, improve access to the water, and perhaps establish some National Park Service campsites, while maintaining the hometown feel of the area that boasts everything from a tractor parade and pancake breakfasts to art gallery openings and opera.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.